Read this week's issue online exactly as it appears in print.

Twitter

Exports to China up 18.3% in first two months

Portugal exported US$341.9 million's worth of products to China in the first two months of the year, up 18.3% on the same period of 2017, according to official figures published on the Forum Macau website.

The fiigures, based on statistics from the Chinese Customs Services showed that trade between Lisbon and Beijing amounted to US$928 million (€752 million) through February.

Portugal imported goods worth approximately US$586 million from China, with Lisbon having a negative trade balance with China of about US$245 million.

Imports of Chinese products increased by US$161 million (17.5%), compared to the same period of last year.

The same figures showed that trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries reached US$20.4 billion (€16.5 billion) over the first two months of the year, with growth of 37.4%.

In January and February 2017, trade between the two countries totalled €10.35 billion.

Angola is in second place terms of China's trade with Portuguese-speaking countries with trade with China totalling US$4.61 billion, with Luanda sending Beijing products worth US$4.23 billion and making purchases of US$380.8 million.

China established the Macau Special Administrative Region as a platform for economic and trade cooperation with the Portuguese-speaking countries in 2003, the year in which it created the Macau Forum.